Online & Retail Payment Processing For Publishers
For publishers that want to accept payments, the process is more than simply just adding a checkout system to their website. Whether you operate a digital publishing platform, a magazine, a newspaper, an educational publication, a content subscription business, or some kind of online media company, you will need a payment infrastructure that can support your business requirements.
It should be able to handle recurring transactions, international customer orders, initiate refunds, and manage disputes and also should be able to accept transactions made by your customers using alternative payment methods, and all of this should be done without disrupting the revenue or the process flow.
The term “publisher payment processing” basically refers to a system and merchant services that allow publishing companies to accept payments from their customers, advertisers, subscribers, vendors, and other commercial partners. With the right setup, publishing companies can find it easy to sell subscriptions, digital content memberships, publications, magazines, and other products.
What is publisher payment processing?
Publisher payment processing is a process of accepting and settling credit card transactions for publishing businesses. This solution connects the publisher’s website, checkout system, payment gateway, merchant account, acquiring bank, and the payment network all together.
Depending upon the business model of a publisher, they may have different requirements, such as one-time purchases, monthly or annual subscriptions, recurring memberships, physical magazine or bookstore sales, digital publication sales, premium content access, donations or contributions, advertising-related payments, or even international transactions. For subscription-based publishers, recurring billing is extremely important.
Customers authorize the publisher for a recurring plan, and that means once it is approved, the publisher will automatically get the approved amount every month till the time of the contract, and it is the publisher’s responsibility to keep on sending the content to the customer as per the defined schedule.
Why is payment processing for publishers important, and why is it sometimes considered high risk?
A publisher can deliver excellent content and may have a loyal audience, but a poor payment experience can result in abandoned purchases and also lost subscribers. The right payment processing solution for publishers should provide a reliable checkout experience to the customer, and this should be done across different devices, including mobile, laptop, tablets, and even internet televisions.
The right merchant account solution for publishers should allow them to accept different modes of transactions. This includes credit cards, debit cards, ACH, e-check, and alternative payment methods.
For example, an international publication company may have their customers paying by using a card that has been issued in the United States, or maybe the United Kingdom, or the European Economic Area, or sometimes Australia or New Zealand. That is why it is important for the merchant processor to support international currencies.
Because of the influence of cross-border transactions in the international publishing business, sometimes payment processors consider this industry high risk, and that is why regular processors avoid supporting businesses in this sector.
It is important to know that with the right payment processing solution, publishers can experience phenomenal benefits, and this includes automated recurring revenue. Rather than collecting the subscription payments every month by utilizing a manual approach, publishers can use an automated billing system that charges the customer’s credit card as per the subscription terms and conditions.
How does payment processing work for publishing companies?
A typical publisher payment transaction involves several connected components. The first one is the customer that selects the subscription, or membership, or publication, or other products that the publisher is selling.
Then the customer submits the payment information at the checkout page. The payment gateway carefully transmits the credit card information for authorization. The transaction then moves through the relevant payment network depending upon the payment method used or the card brand used by the customer.
Finally, the details are moved to the card issuing bank, which either approves or declines the transaction. If the transaction is approved, then the customer receives an order confirmation, and the copy of the same also goes to the merchant. If it is rejected, then the customer can try with another card.
How to choose the right payment processor for your publishing business?
Not every payment processor is capable of supporting all types of industries. Publishing businesses are sometimes complex to handle, and that is why before selecting a payment service provider, you must evaluate several factors.
You should start by asking whether the payment processor offers a recurring billing facility. If subscription processing is central to your business, then you definitely need recurring billing, and it should be your first consideration. The payment processing solution should support subscription schedules, automated renewals, upgrades, downgrades, cancellation, and appropriate handling of failed payments as well.
The next factor that you must look at is international payment acceptance. Many of the publishers these days have audiences across multiple countries, and that is why your payment processor should be able to accept credit card transactions from most nations across the world.
Ask the processor about the support for relevant currencies. Your customers might be interested in making payments to you in their home currencies and preferred payment method.
Payment security cannot be ignored, and that is why your processing partner must handle the sensitive financial information as per the industry guidelines. Make sure that your payment service provider complies with the PCI DSS standards.
Sometimes you may have disputes with customers in relation to credit card transactions, and that is the time when the dispute management feature will be required. Ask your payment service provider how they are going to help you in case of disputes and chargebacks. Can you add a chargeback alert system to your payment gateway so that you get a notification whenever a customer raises a dispute at the card issuing bank?
Reporting and reconciliation. Growing publishing companies across the US, UK, and European Union have more than just a simple transaction list. They need comprehensive reporting, and that is why the merchant panel must display transaction volume, successful payments, failed transactions, subscription revenue, settlement activity, and chargeback information. When you have strong reconciliation tools, then it can make the work quite easier for your finance team to compare and identify the sales and transaction data and make smart market decisions.
Payment processing for digital publishers.
Digital publishers also have their business built around subscription and recurring payments. Some of the business types in this sector include online newspapers, digital magazines, industry publications, news websites, research platforms, premium newsletters, content libraries, and also professional information services. For businesses operating in this sector, the payment solution should easily integrate with publishers’ account management and content access system. The integration of the payment gateway on the publisher platform can dramatically reduce the requirement of manual administration.
Payment processing for subscription publishers.
Subscription publishers have their unique payment challenges. Getting the customer is just the beginning. The real objective for businesses operating in this sector is to make sure that the customer’s subscription stays active for a long time.
When business owners use a good payment processing solution, which can support recurring billing and payment recovery processes when and as the transaction fails, then it results in better customer lifetime values. Failed payments may sometimes occur because of expired cards, insufficient funds, or bank declines, and that is why publishers should therefore consider how their payment processor is actually handling failed transactions and whether the system that they offer supports appropriate retry and customer notification capabilities or not. Reducing the involuntary subscription cancellation can definitely have a meaningful impact on the overall recurring revenue for your publishing company.
How can publishers reduce payment problems?
Publishers can definitely take certain practical steps that can help them improve their payment performance.
First of all, they should make pricing and subscription terms easy to understand for their customers. Your clients, your customers, should know exactly what they are purchasing and how frequently they will be charged on their credit or debit card.
Next, you should optimize the checkout experience. No customer prefers to make transactions on a complicated checkout page, which loads slow and has got bugs.
Third, you should provide a clear billing descriptor to the customers so that month after month, when they get statements, they can realize that this billing descriptor belongs to your business.
It is also important for you to make the cancellation and refund policy easy to understand, and that is why you use simple language to transparently convey to your customer about your refund terms.
Finally, always monitor your transaction data, and we recommend you do it daily. Whenever you see rising declines, refunds, or disputes, all of this can indicate a problem that may require immediate investigation.
High-volume publishers and payment processing.
Large publishers process thousands of transactions across different products, markets, and subscription plans. At such a massive scale, payment processing definitely becomes a crucial part of the company’s overall financial infrastructure, and that is why large publishers should always consider the transaction capacity, settlement requirements, reporting, integration capability, international processing, load balancing, recurring billing facility, fraud control, and customer support when they are choosing a merchant account provider. The payment service provider should be capable of supporting the business growth without forcing the publisher to reduce the number of natural transactions.
Finding the right publisher payment processing solution.
The best publisher payment processing solution depends on the publisher’s business model, customers’ geography, transaction profile, currency processed, products, subscription structure, and the overall operational requirements.
A small digital publication company may prioritize easy integration with recurring billing support, while a large global media company may need more sophisticated payment routing, load balancing, multiple currency acceptance, and multiple mid-availability options.
Rather than choosing a provider based solely on the headline price that they offer, publishers should carefully evaluate the complete payment ecosystem. The goal of yours should be simple: you should accept payments in a reliable way, protect your revenue, provide a strong customer experience, and, along with that, create an infrastructure that can scale with your business.
Final thoughts.
Payment processing is a foundational component of modern publishing businesses. As publishers are now relying more on subscription membership, digital products, and international audiences, it is important for them to use a payment infrastructure that is capable of supporting such massive growth.
Whether you are just launching a digital publication system or you are currently operating an established media platform, for you, choosing the right payment processing option for your publisher business can create a smoother purchasing experience for your customers. It can also help you improve your recurring revenue management every month and also help you with simplifying your reconciliation.
The strongest approach that we would recommend is to evaluate payment processing as a strategic business infrastructure rather than something that you can just plug into your website. The right payment service provider should align with your expected transaction volume and business growth strategy.
At QuadraPay, we offer online and retail credit card processing solutions to publishers in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. If you are currently evaluating a similar solution for your business or are currently paying high fees to your current processor, then probably you should contact us. Our team will carefully understand your business model and send you a free savings analysis if you switch to our solutions. Contact QuadraPay today.